My baby is One!

(This was written on his first birthday, but I didn't put the pics in til today-20th)

Happy Birthday Benaiah Seth!!! It is so hard to believe that you are officially one year old. It feels like just yesterday we had you, and you were our low key easy baby who hated sleep. Well you are still our low key easy baby (except for the shrieking that your brother taught you how to do), and you still hate sleep, but thankfully you have finally at 10 months, learned how to sleep through the night. You still have a funky nap schedule. One day you take 2 really good naps. The next day you take one really good nap, and one not so good one, or you don't take the 2nd one. The following day you either take 2 really bad naps (30 min or less) or you refuse to nap at all. And then the cycle starts all over. Crazy kiddo!!

You are our kiddo who is prone to being sick. You were sick for two whole months of your life, to the point of requiring nebulizer treatments. Then again when you got your 4 top teeth in all at once, and once again, you are sick. Poor guy.
You love life


You love to smile-now have learned the gutteral laugh.
When you are done eating you throw your food on the floor.

You know what a dog says "Wo wo wo wo"
You can clap, wave bye, do "So big."
You can climb up a slide and up the stair leading to the slide.

You respond to "I love you" or "Night, night" with "Mmmaw"-the sound of a kiss. It's really adorable.
You have started greeting your dad at the door.
You may say "Mama, but it also may be "More, More" cuz you say it most often when you are in your highchair.


You know what "Uh uh" means, and will shake your head back and forth and say "Uh uh" and stop doing what you weren't supposed to.
You love to throw things on the floor and say "Uh oh"

You lift your hands up when you want to be picked up, or point at people to pick you up.
You pull up on anything, and have on occasion let go, only to realize you aren't holding on, and you immediately squat.
You think Kebap & your brother are the best thing since sliced bread.
You have 8 teeth, and are attempting to pop 4 more, so you have been affectionately nicknamed "Drooley" by our friends.
Our favorite nicknames for you are "Monkey," "Booger," & "Boogs"
You are often found having a blast hiding behind a curtain. This can entertain you for hours!
If your brother is awake, you are often found underneath him,as he loves to wrestle you.
You love to cuddle.

You are quasi lactose intolerant, so finding foods you can eat (since I cook with cheese/cream stuff a lot) has been an interesting challenge!
You have such a sweet spirit, you love people and you get easily offended (ie you have a tender heart). We pray that God would use these qualities to mold you into a man after his heart. We love you Benaiah Seth Morgan, and are so proud that God decided to bless us with you.

Fort Lewis!!!

So Tuesday (June 23rd) morning before we left Washington for Oregon, and after we bid Scarlett and the girls goodbye (after Ben's morning nap) we went up to Ft. Lewis and drove around LDACistan, where Chris spent 5 weeks training in between his junior and senior years of ROTC. It was fun having him point out all the locations where he lived, called me, was in the field, did exercises, ate,etc.

We almost got them all to look. Of course Ben was infatuated by Kaitlyn


Much better,at least he was looking forward if not at the camera


The kiddos...and Annabelle gets lost!


Yay, we managed to get 4 kiddos 2 & under to all look at the camera and smile(ish) at the same time!! Definitely a great pic!


So, these cattle cars, actually carry cadets, to and from wherever they need to go for the day, not cattle. I think if you click on the picture, you can actually see some of them in the windows.


Some cadets planning out their drills for an exercise later that day.


The line of barracks where cadets live for 5 weeks.


We stopped in a parking lot while Chris got out to take some pictures, orient himself (ie where was he in the field, where was he at the range...)and I got Ben out cuz he was fussy. He makes some of the cutest faces!

My happy boy!

Skookum's. Chris has some funny stories about these things. Only at Ft. Lewis are they called Skookum's and not port-a-potties.


This the building Chris stayed in. There's a phone on the outside that he used to call me on, when he was given permission (they take away all cell phones).


Chris's room was the 2nd one from the end, top floor.


Mount Rainier. Chris saw this amazing site nearly everyday he was there, thanks to no rain/cloud coverage for most of the 5 weeks. We got to hike parts of it when I went up for his graduation!

I loved hearing all the stories he told as he pointed out different buildings. He got so excited reliving it!

Since Nils had to go to work early, we stopped by to say goodbye (he works right near the cadet land) and to get a pic


Since our boys were acting up when we went to visit Ron & Susan, and we didn't get a picture, they met with us at Panera Bread on the way out of town, and we got a family shot.

Ron, Susan, & Ben!

The boys finally slept on the drive down to Oregon. This was the only "long" drive that we didn't do in the middle of the night.

The beginnings of sleep (he hated to sleep in the car)


And we are getting more comfortable (rolling)-yes I know bad mom,taking the seatbelt off, but I was desperate for him to sleep.


And the final roll, nose pressed into the seat.

Puget Sound

So Monday morning of our trip to Seattle (22nd of June) we decided to head to see Puget Sound since it was only like 10 minutes away from Nils & Scarlett's house. We found that out from Ron & Susan, whom we had spent Fathers Day afternoon with. It was beautiful. Ben had a blast playing in the sand, and John kept trying to chase the splash, and throw rocks into it!

Checking out the splash!

I LOVE this picture!

Did I mention Ben was playing in the sand?!


This little "stream" trickled into the ocean. The cove was beautiful.


Daddy teaching John how to throw rocks. Can you see that speck that he threw, and the follow through!

Mommy & John skipping/throwing rocks.

Panoramic view of the cove


I loved this island. So,strange, yet so perfect a location.

This is how you do it mommy!


So, since John had a minor meltdown/tantrum the day before, we had to come back the next day to get a family pic in front of the cove.

Also, Monday evening, we got to hang out with one of the guys who was in our Bible Study in San Antonio, Chris Black. He got stationed in Washington shortly after graduating flight school. It was really neat to see him, and catch up on what was going on in his life. He was still the same old Chris, which was neat to see!
So, one was too far away, but pretty much everyone was looking (well Ben didn't look at anything but the ground the entire time!), one Chris & Chris must have said something to each other, and John is starting to get frustrated, and the last one, well we are all looking (almost). Bonus, front of Nils and Scarlett's house in the background!!!


So, a brief note about Father's Day. We went to Nils & Scarlett's church which was pretty good. Nils even won a grilling apron for being the dad with the youngest baby there. Too bad, Ben wasn't born a wee bit later!!! Those aprons were pretty cool if I do say so myself. We decided not to brave any crowds for lunch and rather headed to Quiznos, and got some sandwiches to go. After lunch the kiddos all took naps, as did Nils, as he wasn't feeling well. Meanwhile, one of Scarlett's friends dropped her dog off to be watched for a few days. The dog had really long toenails, and her dew claw was almost growing into her paw, so since Chris knew how to trim dog's toenails, he did. I married a man of many talents, I am finding! A better way to spend Father's Day, I think not!! (We did end up spending some really neat time that evening -until the kids went crazy-with Ron & Susan & Lydia, and had some delicious food!!)

Pics as promised

So, I finally uploaded the pics from my camera from the last two months, so I have tons more pics to post, but these are the ones I promised from my time visiting Kathryn & Zaky!

Sitting on the back porch which overlooks Belton Lake. John is busy in the background throwing rocks down the hill behind her grandma's house.

Chillin!

Aunt Lisa got a chance to hold both babies!!

I think this was the best attempt at getting them both to look at the camera. Although, I do believe Zaky was fascinated with Ben's hair!


Again, fascinated with the hair. This was the best pic I could get of John with us.


And he is off my lap to go explore, and Zaky is still after Ben's hair!


An orange picture of Kathryn & I. This is what happens when you are silly and try to take the picture yourself, instead of letting one of the numerous picture taking capable people around you take the picture!!


And a much better picture! It was a great reunion! Can't wait to do it again!

Seattle/Ferry Ride

Ok, so I'm back to catching up again on our vacation to Montana/Northwest. I think in the last post about the vacation I mentioned us heading out Thursday night the 18th of June for Ft. Lewis, WA to visit some old friends, Nils & Scarlett and their girls. We arrived in Washington, after an all night drive at 6 in the morning. Scarlett was waiting up for us, as Nils was at PT. Unfortunately, even though mommy and daddy didn't sleep much, the boys did, so they were ready to go once we got there. I let Chris nap since he did most of the driving, and stayed up watching the boys and talking with Scarlett. When Nils got home I woke Chris up, and he stayed up so that I could nap with Ben. Most of that first day was us swapping naps with watching the kids. Surprisingly it worked out well.

Saturday we decided to head up to Seattle and see the sights. I had never (or at least didn't think that I had) seen Pikes Place Market, and thought the kiddos and Chris (we tried to go see it when he graduated from LDAC, but it was closed) would enjoy all the sights. I always thought Pikes Place was a place full of fish, but had no idea it was a huge market area, where people were selling everything from paintings, to t-shirts, to jewelry, to flowers, to honey/jams, to amazing (delicious) fruit, to the fish that I had envisioned. It was nice and crowded so it was a little hard to navigate two strollers and 4 people. Chris bought us some raspberries and strawberries. I miss the northwest so much for their yummy (and inexpensive) raspberries. The strawberries were as big as John's fist, and delicious too. He enjoyed an entire pint of them. Boy we regretted that decision when we changed his diaper the next day!! Ben spent a good portion of the morning looking around before being lulled to sleep in the sling. I was pretty shocked as he doesn't usually fall asleep in the sling anymore. My favorite part of Pikes Place was the infamous Fish Market where they throw the fish that is purchased back and forth from customer to the wrapper, to the guy weighing it, back to the guys out front, and back to the customer. It's especially exciting when they throw a big fish. It was a lot of fun to watch, although John had more fun watching the doggies that surrounded him, and like I said, Ben was asleep, so he missed the whole ordeal.


Walking up to the market. We parked a few blocks away!


The original Starbucks. Nope didn't even stop to get coffee there. Chris was determined to make it his entire trip without drinking any Starbucks coffee. He almost made it except the day before we left Montana to return to Texas we went to the mall, and they had no coffee shops, except for a Starbucks in Barnes and Noble. He was disappointed.


The Seattle skyline with three of us.

And now with the 4th one!!


I just loved this "park" with all the pretty flowers and the ocean behind it.

Starting into Pikes Place.

Ben was fascinated


Not sure if you can tell how ridiculously large the strawberry is that he is eating. I love the Northwest! Yep, one of the ones out of the pint we bought.

And he finally fell asleep


Making sure we got a pic with the sign in the background to legitimize that we were actually there!


The fish throwers. Unfortunately we didn't get a video of them throwing fish, b/c we just forgot to turn it on. When we did,nobody wanted to buy anything they were just standing around waiting for someone else to buy so they could get pics of the flying fish.


We decided not to do the Space Needle as the boys wouldn't enjoy it very much, and we didn't want to pay boocoo bucks for scared boys! The other thing that we knew the boys would enjoy was a ferry ride, so we decided to ride one on the return trip. Not before we had stopped and eaten some of the famous fish (or chicken for me) on the Pier. Nils & Scarlett wanted to take us to a restaurant where we could eat overlooking the water and watch the ships come and go, but the wait there was over an hour, and the boys were getting cranky, so we decided to see what they had along the pier. Funny cuz it was deja vu from when my family had gone to Seattle for a missions trip over Spring Break back when I was in highschool. I ate at the exact same place as I had back then. (We had a free night where we rode the ferry, and ate at the pier). Brought back so many memories of the homeless shelter we helped at, the people we served, the group, the lessons we learned about serving and loving people. I want my kids to have the same experiences I did, and learn how to love people and serve those to whom others wouldn't even give a second glance.

Chris & John walking up the pier

After lunch, we hopped in the cars and drove to the ferry dock. Of course John fell asleep on the 10 minute drive over there. We decided to let him sleep as long as possible and then wake him up with enough time to enjoy the splash. Nils & Scarlett and their girls went up to the main deck and watched everything while we stayed in the car. I think we were in the middle of a discussion about discipline and kids. Yay. Ben enjoyed playing with his daddy and pretending he was driving.

The many faces of Ben

Yay toes!

We felt bad that he had to sleep sitting up, so we laid him down on the floor and let him sleep. Still doesn't look that comfortable!
Seagulls hoping for some food.



A view out the back and the Seattle skyline!

Playing with daddy

Let's see what does this do?

Hmm,and this?


AAaaah watch out world here I come!


Some of the sights we saw on the ride.


We woke John up and he was fascinated!

Another family pic


John pointing out the splash to Kaitlyn

Aren't they cute?

Like I said he was fascinated!


By the end of it all we tuckered this little guy out!

Not your typical favorite

So, even though it was slightly drizzly today, I took the boys and Kebap out for a walk. I was just going to walk up to the drainage ditch, so that John could throw some sticks in the "splash." But then it wasn't raining that bad, and it felt good to get out and about, and Ben was having a blast, and John was pointing out everything he saw, so I decided to go a little bit further, and then turn around when it really started raining. Well, I decided to go on a route that I don't take often to see if my Indian friends were outside. I keep trying to catch some of the family outside so that I can talk to the women. I didn't figure they were out due to the drizzle, but I walked by their house anyways. Then I turned down the street that winds up at the corner with the doggies. John was pointing out the blue cars, and the white cars, and the silver cars (well, actually he would say car, and I would say what color it was, then he would repeat me.) Then, out of the blue, John starts saying "Noah, Noah." I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, until I looked across the street and in one of the yards, I saw a statue very similar to this:

I said, "I don't think that's Noah, but I suppose it could be." I then started singing, "Who built the ark? Noah, Noah. Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark." John repeated after me, "Noah built the art." Then not even two seconds later, he hollers out, "Other Noah." I looked at where he was pointing and it was a statue of an angel.
Now when you ask most kids who their favorite Bible character, it's usually: Jesus, Mary, David. I rarely hear Noah. But apparently Noah is John's favorite Bible character as he pointed out two random statues and called them Noah.
There could be a lot that plays into this. When we were in Montana this past summer, for Sunday School, John learned all about "Noah built the ark." Here at home, we have a Bible for kids, which simplifies each story. John is always turning it to the Noah story. Maybe cuz he remembers Montana, maybe cuz he likes pounding on everything, and the story says "Pretend like you are building a boat." Who knows? But, I am still trying to figure out why a statue of Mary and a statue of an angel remind him of Noah. All the pictures that we have showed him of Noah look nothing like the statues. Ahh, the imagination of a 2 year old!!

Update (Thursday)
So, John comes up and starts "talking" to Chris, and says something about Noah. Chris asked him what Noah did. "Noah built the art." He has never responded correctly about ANYTHING when we ask him (unless it's what does such and such say), so this was pretty exciting!

Fun in Language Learning

So, last night I took the boys out to Morgan's Point to visit a friend of mine. As we were driving through her neighborhood, I pointed out some deer to John. He was fascinated. Then, I saw one peeing, and I said, "Look John, that deer is going potty."
"Deer potty?"
"Yes, John, deer is going potty."
We watched it for a few more minutes, then drove on to find more deer (we were waiting til the workers finished paving their street)
"More deer?"
"Yes John, we are looking for more deer, do you see any?"
"More deer?"
"Yes John do you see any?"
We found a few more groups of deer, some with babies, and I pointed those out to him.
"Baby Deer?"
"Yes John baby deer."
"Baby deer?"
"Yes John baby deer."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes John deer went potty. Let's go see if we can find it again."
Alas, it wasn't there when we drove by, but we were able to go see the snorts and make it to Kathryn's grandma's house.
When we left, the whole drive home (25 straight minutes)
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John deer went potty."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John, deer went potty."
"Deer un potty?"
"Yes, John, deer went potty."
"Deer un ......

I guess repetition is key in remembering how to say something. Or maybe my son is obsessed, I don't know. I will probably post pics later of our time with Kathryn & Zaky, so stay tuned.

Oh and also on the way there John kept saying "Itty baby." I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was. I knew it wasn't baby kitty, b/c he said that clearly when I woke him up from a nap he took in the car on Tuesday. He got frustrated with me, and "sulked," and the next thing I heard him say: "Uh oh, bag of trash." I couldn't figure out what he was talking about until I looked and saw big orange bags of cement or sand holding down the road construction signs. Too cute. "Yes John, those look like bags of trash don't they!" was all I could say while chuckling to myself.